Friday, August 3, 2012

A Canada Retrospective...Columbia Icefield

After our drive on the Bow Valley Parkway and walk along Lake Moraine we headed northwest to Jasper National Park and the Columbia Icefield. The Athabasca Glacier feeds many of the lakes and rivers in the region. It was a three-hour drive from Banff and filled with a continuous display of mountain grandeur.﻿
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Just 125 km to go...the Icefield Centre.

Bow Lake - one of the many wonderful sights
on the Icefield Parkway.

Yet another amazing glacier on our
route to the Columbia Icefield

I kept hanging out the window on our three-hour drive
to capture as many beautiful sights I could.

To get to the Icefield we started to ascend the Candian
Rockies. This was at Bridal Veil Falls...looking back
from where we had come. You can see a small bit of
the road below.

Our approach to the Icefield and the changing weather.
A slice of heaven.

Our first peek at the Icefield as we came around the bend.

The Columbia Icefield...we would soon be standing
out in the middle of it.

A Brewster SnoCoach.

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These "bus" wheels were huge!

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Our SnoCoach. You get to walk around, for about 15 minutes,
on the icefield. The ice melt is drinkable and most took
advantage of the crisp and clear glacial refreshment.

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The view straight up the glacier icefield.

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Matthew staying warm our on the
icefield perimeter.

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Glacial runoff...crystal.

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The ice melt from the glacier.

Todd enjoying a silly moment.

Another glacier that rings the icefield.

Then the weather changed and the clouds engulfed us and
the rain began to fall creating a mystical landscape.

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And as quickly as the clouds came in, they disppeared. This
was the view upon returning to the Icefield Centre.

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The view from the Icefield Centre.

And on the drive back to Canmore we were charmed
with a Grizzly sighting!

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About Me

Welcome to my musings. I have long considered writing my wanderings in a blog. Like many of you, significant life change can often be the "holy push" you need to take a first step. I hope that something I'm experiencing or simply thinking about is "manna" for your journey.
My personal stats are that I am a wife (to a lovely pastor turned banker whom I know you would like very much), a mother (to a delightful teenager, really!), a communications and strategy consultant (to super smart clients), a friend and confidante.